Suspect wounds Milwaukee officer then kills himself

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Authorities say a suspect opened fire on a Milwaukee police officer sitting in his squad car and seriously wounded him before fleeing and apparently killing himself shortly thereafter.

Sgt. Tim Gauerke says officers responded to several calls in the 3500 block of South 17th street early Sunday, including two domestic violence-related calls in which the suspect was no longer there when the officers arrived.

Gauerke says at around 2 a.m., an officer was sitting in his squad car conducting the investigation when a suspect approached on foot and fired at the officer, striking him several times.

About 30 minutes later, officers heard a nearby gunshot and found a man who had apparently shot himself in the head, killing himself.

Gauerke says investigators believe the dead man was the suspect in the domestic violence incidents and the person who shot the 31-year-old officer, who was hospitalized with serious wounds that weren’t considered life-threatening.

He says the man was 20 years old, from the suburb of West Allis and had two felonies on his arrest record.